Retirement saving research frequently has investigated the differences between working men and working women and primarily focused on the near retirement and retirement years. There is limited research targeting young to old working-age women including those who do not work for pay and are unemployed. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors affect non-retired working-age (25 years and older) women's retirement saving behaviors, retirement savings, and retirement income satisfaction. To implement the study, a research framework was developed based on Deacon and Firebaugh's Family Resource Management Model. The research framework for this study consisted of three major sections: (a) input (demographics, saving motives, retirement saving involvement level, retirement information seeking, current financial assets and debts, and future expectations), (b) throughput (retirement saving behaviors such as calculating needed retirement savings, being a retirement saver, starting saving for retirement age, and being a regular retirement saver), and (c) output (the objective retirement savings and the subjective retirement income satisfaction). An online survey instrument was developed to obtain data for the study. Two pilot tests were conducted to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument. Data for this study were collected from a national population between May 25, 2012 and May 30, 2012 with 591 valid responses. Several statistical methods were employed: descriptive statistics, one-way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA), direct logistic regression, and standard multiple regression. From the results of the study, only about one-third of the women (31.8%) reported they expect to get the full amount of Social Security retirement income that today's retirees get. However, around 60% of the women only save less than $25,000 or none in employer-provided retirement accounts or in personal investments and savings. There is an un-addressed gap between the cognition of the need to save for retirement and real saving action. A regular retirement saver is more likely to save more in employer-provided retirement accounts and to feel more satisfied with that retirement income. Yet, regular retirement savers have less savings in personal investments and savings, possibly because they believe their work investments will be sufficient or some women may make direct deposits to meet the annual limits of retirement plans. Other researchers have not reported this relationship. Those women who are more cognitively involved with saving for retirement are more likely to calculate needed retirement savings and to be a retirement saver, but they are less satisfied with retirement income from Social Security and from personal investments and savings. Satisfaction level is subjective; thus, those who expect to own more types of assets in retirement may have a higher satisfaction level with the expected income from both employer-sponsored retirement accounts and personal investments and savings. Generally, greater satisfaction with expected retirement income is associated with higher accumulation in retirement savings, and the female savers have much more retirement savings than non-savers. However, there is no difference in the retirement income satisfaction of savers and non-savers. These findings have implications for financial educators, counselors and advisors, researchers, employers, and policy makers. There are recommendations for women and future research. / Ph. D.

BAKGRUND: Generation Y är idag unga vuxna och kommer när de blir pensionärer få ut en lägre inkomst än dem som går i pension idag, vilket ökar betydelsen av ett eget sparande. Tidigare studier har visat ett samband mellan en hög finansiell bildning och pensionssparande. Den finansiella bildningen har dock visats vara låg bland unga. På området beteendefinans finns en rad exempel på kognitiva bias som även de pekar på svårigheter med långsiktigt sparande. Forskning har ofta fokuserat på en specifik påverkande faktor för pensionssparande med ett kvantitativt arbetssätt, men en helhetsbild saknas. SYFTE: Syftet med studien är att undersöka generation Y:s kännedom om och hur de reflekterar kring behovet av långsiktigt sparande till pension, samt analysera hur deras kännedom och reflektioner relaterar till deras livssituation, finansiella bildning och tidigare forskning kring kognitiva bias. GENOMFÖRANDE: Studien har genomförts genom kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta personer ur generation Y. Genom frågor där respondenterna fått beskriva både sitt eget handlande, sina tankar, sina åsikter samt vad de anser kännetecknar generation Y har en helhetsbild av deras förhållningssätt till pensionssparande skapats. SLUTSATS: Studiens resultat visar att generation Y som utgångspunkt anser att det finns ett behov av pensionssparande, men att det i deras specifika fall inte passar att spara just nu. Deras faktiska kunskap om behovet av pensionssparande är dock låg. Motviljan att spara kan i flertalet situationer förklaras med överdriven optimism inför framtiden. En alternativ förklaring kan dock vara att generationen i dagsläget helt enkelt är nonchalanta inför sin framtida ekonomiska situation som pensionärer, då de värderar kortsiktig konsumtion högre. / BACKGROUND: Generation Y, who today are young adults, will get a lower income when they retire than those who are retired now. Previous studies have shown a connection between higher financial literacy and saving for retirement, but the financial literacy among young people has been shown to be low. In the field of behavioural finance there are several cognitive biases that also suggests that there are difficulties connected to long term savings. Research has often focused on one specific factor of impact for retirement savings with a quantitative approach, but a conclusive picture is lacking. AIM: The aim of this thesis is to examine the knowledge and reflections of generation Y regarding the need for long term savings for retirement, and to analyse their knowledge and reflections in relation to their conditions, financial literacy and previous research on cognitive biases. COMPLETION: The study has been conducted through qualitative, semi structured interviews with eight people from generation Y. Through questions where the respondents have had the opportunity to describe both their own actions, thoughts, opinions and what they think characterizes generation Y a conclusive picture of their attitude towards retirement savings has been created. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that generation Y as a reference point considers retirement savings important, but that in their specific case it is not suitable to save right now. Their actual knowledge about the need for retirement savings is low. Their aversion to save can in several cases be explained by undue optimism towards the future. An alternative explanation could be that the generation at present simply is unconcerned with their future economic situation in retirement, because they value short term consumption higher.

Dissertation Thesis: Essays on Health Economics and Health Policy Author: PhDr. Jana Votápková Advisor: doc. PhDr. Martin Gregor, Ph.D. Academic year: 2019/2020 This dissertation thesis is a collection of three applied economics essays and a comprehensive discussion essay which includes policy recommendations resulting from the empirical essays included in this dissertation thesis, and other early work of the author. The topics analyzed were motivated by recent Czech healthcare reforms that address the recommendations raised by the OECD. Firstly, efficiency of Czech general hospitals is analyzed stressing the need for a well-functioning DRG system. Secondly, inpatient user charges which were introduced in 2008 and abolished shortly after, are analyzed as a tool which increases private participation in healthcare expenses and thus may boost healthcare efficiency both through additional resources and reduction of excess demand for healthcare services. Thirdly, personal savings, pre-retirement savings in particular, are viewed as another private source which could ease the tight public healthcare and pension budgets. It is shown that health status is a positive determinant for pre-retirement liquid savings, thus preventive health programs should be given a priority within the Czech healthcare system.

Americans are not financially prepared for retirement and the World Economic Forum (2019) is forecasting the US retirement savings gap to grow consistently for the next three decades. Addressing this retirement savings gap will almost certainly require individuals to increase their retirement savings rate. Embracing this increased individual accountability for retirement savings is found in this research to lead to a higher retirement savings intention. However, this research also found that perceptions about who is accountable for the retirement savings gap is not uniform, but rather is polarized along political lines. Those who affiliate with the Republican party believe relatively more strongly in individual accountability for retirement saving while those who affiliate with the Democratic party believe more strongly in the accountability of institutions like the government, Wall Street and employers. This research experiments with temporal framing as a novel mechanism for disengaging respondents from these politically affiliated retirement savings accountability beliefs, and by doing so, influencing their retirement saving intentions. Temporal framing was chosen as a mechanism for moderating politically affiliated beliefs about perceived accountability for retirement saving because distal temporal framing has been shown in prior research (Roh, McComas, Rickard & Decker, 2015) to be effective in reducing entrenched resistance. Distal framing in this research was expected to reduce resistance to ‘mismatched’ messages – which are ones that counter existing politically affiliated beliefs ab The results confirm a clear distinction between Republican affiliated respondents, who place high accountability for the retirement saving gap on individuals and low accountability on institutions, and Democrat affiliated respondents, who consider both individuals and institutions as accountable. Furthermore, the research confirms that self-identified political affiliation does not influence the importance that respondents placed on retirement savings. And for both political affiliations, a higher perceived individual accountability for retirement savings is associated with an increased retirement savings priority. However, temporal framing as a mechanism for moderating politically affiliated beliefs about accountability was not effective as applied in this research, possibly because the tested messages were not sufficiently persuasive. The findings from this research can be applied by practitioners to set the tone and content of messages about retirement savings, to target messages to the most receptive audiences, and to advance academic understanding of the influence of proximate and distal message framing. And most importantly, this research makes a small but meaningful contribution towards understanding how to ensure a dignified retirement for all Americans. / Business Administration/Marketing

The subject of the thesis is the analysis of the services that are offered within of the forthcoming pension reform in the Czech Republic, in order to find an optimal variant for the security of the citizens of the Czech Republic in the pensionable age.

Bakgrund: Generation Y riskerar få en lägre pension i framtiden än de som går i pensionidag. För att upprätthålla en acceptabel levnadsstandard krävs därför att de själva tar stortansvar för sitt pensionssparande. Det finns dock stor risk att deras finansiella beslutpräglas av beteendefinansiella faktorer och deras nivå av finansiell bildning. Utöver detfattar personer i olika demografiska grupper olika finansiella beslut. Generation Ybeskrivs dessutom som otåliga och har visat sig ha dåliga finansiella vanor. För att enacceptabel levnadsstandard ska kunna uppnås för Generation Y även då de är pensionärerär det därför viktigt att förstå vilka faktorer som kan påverka deras långsiktiga sparande. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur beteendefinansiella faktorer,finansiell bildning samt demografiska faktorer samvarierar med svenska Generation Y:slångsiktiga sparande. Metod: Studien genomfördes med en kvantitativ metod där empiri i form av enkätdatabearbetats. En linjär multipel regressionsanalys har genomförts för att undersöka hur debeteendefinansiella faktorerna kortsiktighet, självkontroll och övertro, finansiell bildningsamt demografiska faktorer samvarierar med svenska Generation Y:s långsiktigasparande. Även t-tester har genomförts för att undersöka om skillnader för det långsiktigasparandet samt för de beteendefinansiella faktorerna förekommit för olika grupper. Slutsats: Studien visar att de beteendefinansiella faktorerna kortsiktighet, självkontrolloch övertro, samt den demografiska faktorn sysselsättning hade en statistiskt signifikantsamvariation med Generation Y:s långsiktiga sparande för studiens urval. Det fanns ävenstatistiskt signifikanta skillnader i nivå av kortsiktighet och övertro för olikademografiska grupper. / Background: Generation Y is at risk for a substantially lower public retirement incomparison to today's retirees. Therefore, it is of great importance that Generation Yunderstands the necessity of private savings to be able to maintain a sustainable standardof living throughout their lives. However, Generation Y's financial decisions might beinfluenced by behavioral biases, financial literacy and various demographic factors. Inaddition, Generation Y is described as impatient and have been found to haveunsustainable financial habits. For them to maintain a sustainable standard of livingthroughout their lives, it is therefore of great importance to understand what factors thatcorrelate with their long-term saving behaviour. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how behavioural biases, financialliteracy and demographic factors correlate with the long-term saving behaviour amongthe Swedish Generation Y. Methodology: To adequately approach this study a quantitative research method hasbeen applied. The data was collected from a survey. A linear multiple regression analysiswas performed to examine the correlation between long-term saving and behaviouralbiases, financial literacy and demographic factors. Furthermore, t-tests were performedto examine the differences in the level of long-term savings and behavioural biases amongsub-groups. Conclusion: The study concludes that the behavioural biases present bias, self-controland overconfidence, and the demographic factor occupation had statistically significantcorrelations with the long-term savings of the Swedish Generation Y with regard to thesample in this study. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in thelevel of present bias and overconfidence in different demographic groups.

Bakgrund: Generation Y kan inte förvänta sig samma kompensationsgrad vid sin pension som tidigare generationer. Det beror på två saker, för det första har det svenska pensionssystemet genomgått en reformering år 1999, och för det andra så har generation Y:s en sen etableringsålder på arbetsmarknaden. Samtidigt uppger de att de önskar sig en liknande levnadsstandard i pensionen som när de arbetade, vilket bara kan uppnås med ett privat pensionssparande. Paradoxalt nog så är det en låg andel som faktiskt initierat ett provat pensionssparande. Det kan relateras till att generation Y kan anses som finansiellt omogna och riskaversiva. Det är därav av vikt för generationen att initiera ett privat sparande med hänsyn till den levnadsstandard de eftersträvar vid pensionering. Därtill finns det flera psykologiska bias som kan påverka individers rationalitet vid ekonomiska beslutsfattanden. Dessa bias kan dessutom vara olika framträdande beroende vilket kön och demografisk grupp som individen tillhör. Det är därför av vikt för generationen att förstå hur dessa bias framträder vid sparandet och hur de bör hantera dessa för att uppnå ett optimalt sparande utifrån deras framtida önskade levnadsstandard.  Syfte: Studien syftar till att kartlägga hur psykologiska faktorer, demografiska faktorer samt risktagande samvarierar med privat pensionssparande i generation Y. Dessutom undersöks hur de demografiska undergruppernas privata pensionssparande skiljer sig åt. Slutligen syftar studien även till att undersöka skillnader och likheter i män och kvinnors fallenhet för psykologiska bias vid privat pensionssparande.  Metod: Studien tillämpade en kvantitativ ansats där empirin primärt samlats in genom en enkät som sedan ställts i relation till tidigare forskning. För att besvara studiens frågeställningar utfördes dels t- tester för att identifiera skillnader mellan de demografiska undergruppernas privata pensionssparande och deras fallenhet för psykologiska bias. Dessutom utfördes multipla linjära regressioner för att identifiera signifikanta samvariationer mellan psykologiska bias, risk och privat pensionssparande.  Resultat: Studien visar på att generation Y bör se över sitt privata pensionssparande då det finns en hög sannolikhet att de sparar för lite i förhållande till den levnadsstandard de själva uppger att de vill ha. Orsaken till detta kan delvis förklaras av att de dels har fallit för psykologiska bias, dels att demografiska faktorer gett upphov till skilda sparbeteenden. Höginkomsttagare, riskaptit och överkonfidens uppvisade positiva samvariationer med det privata sparandet. Männen i studien var mer överkonfidenta, överoptimistiska och risktagande än kvinnor, och kvinnor uppvisade en högre fallenhet för dispositionseffekten och snakebite. / Background: The reformation of the Swedish retirement system in 1999 and generation Y’s late age of establishment in the labor market have resulted in a lower compensation in their retirement compared with previous generations. Therefore, these individuals need to initiate private saving accounts on their own to reach a satisfactory standard of living when reaching the age of retirement. However, the reported proportion of individuals that have initiated a private saving account of any kind is low. The generationis known to be risk-averse and displays an immature attitude towards financial decision-making and there are several psychological biases that may interfere with rational decision making. These biases may also appear differently regarding what gender and demographic group the individual belongs to. To reacha sufficient standard of living at retirement, generation Y needs to recognize how these biases may comeinto play. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine how psychological factors, demographic factors and risk-taking covariates with the private retirement savings in generation Y. Additionally, the study analyzes the demographic sub-groups and how their private retirement savings differ. Lastly, the study aims to identify how women and men differ in displaying psychological biases and what implications these biases have for private retirement savings. Methodology: The study applies a quantitative research method. The data was collected from an onlin survey and related to previous research. T-tests were used to depict differences between the demographic sub-groups' private, retirement savings and behavioral biases. A Linear multiple regression analysis was also used to examine significant covariations between psychological biases, risk-taking and private retirement savings in generation Y. Results: The result of the study illustrates that generation Y are most likely irrational in their decision-making, and psychological biases are most likely present in their decisions. Demographic sub-groups exhibit different saving behaviors. Individuals with high income, risk appetite and overconfidence display positive covariations with private retirement savings. The male respondents were more overconfident,over optimistic, and risk-taking compared to the women in the study. They were in contrast more prone to the disposition effect and snakebite.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal. / In Canada taxpayers have an opportunity to save on their taxes through a program entitled the Registered Retirement Saving Plan, one of the most important tax deferred savings vehicles offered. RRSPs were first introduced in Canada in 1957. The contribution limits were increased substantially in the early 1970s, and RRSPs were widely promoted. Since then, they have become a prominent form of Canadian saving. RRSP contributions now exceed the total of employee and employer contributions to employer-provided pension plans (Revenue Canada, Tax Statistics on Individuals, Edition 1998). The RRSP option is especially attractive considering that the Canada Pension Plan, historically responsible for providing retirement benefits to all Canadians over age 65 when they retire, is in a precarious situation due to demographic changes. These factors would have us believe that a large number of Canadians take advantage of the RRSP program to save on their taxes, as well as to assure their old ages with a sufficient level of wealth. In fact, only one-third of Canadian families ^A4^o had access to the RRSP option contributed to such a plan in 1997 (Globe and Mail, March 1998, Calculations using data from Statistics Canada). u This paper describes a model for predicting the outcome of the RRSP decision making process for households. In this paper, we will explore a two-equation model for estimating households' behavior toward the decision to contribute in a RRSP and the amount of contribution. Our approach will integrate two groups of characteristics of households : one being demographic with age, gender, family size, location, education, and marital status and the other being financial with income, pension, debt and non liquid assets. We expect our empirical results to be consistent with previous researches based on the Individual Retirement Account (IRA), the American alter ego of the Canadian Registered Retirement Saving Plan (RRSP). 0 The main purpose of this paper is to develop a model that demonstrates a framework of Canadian households' behavior regarding their decisions to contribute to their own retirement wealth. It is still very early to draw conclusions about the households decisions and behaviors because the government is stilt very present as a source of retirement income. However, it is helpful to observe contemporary trends in order to determine the means of improving the information given to the general population regarding RRSPs.

BAKGRUND: Samtidigt som befolkningen blir äldre läggs ett större ansvar på individen att upprätta ett eget pensionssparande. Det blir således viktigare att påbörja sitt pensionssparande vid en yngre ålder. Det bör därför undersökas hur kognitiva motivationsfaktorer förändras över individens livscykel samt hur det interagerar med viljan och möjligheten att pensionsspara. SYFTE: Syftet med denna studie är att ur ett retroaktivt perspektiv låta individer reflektera över vad som påverkat deras beslut gällande det egna pensionssparandet. Detta med fokus på (a) självkontroll, (b) mental accounting samt (c) undvikande av information och beslut. Studien avser att analysera och värdera dessa kognitiva motivationsfaktorer i en livscykelkontext samt hur de interagerar med möjligheten och viljan för att pensionsspara. GENOMFÖRANDE: Studien har genomförts med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med individer i åldrarna 40-65 år. Respondenterna har ställts inför frågor med fokus på studiens tre huvudfaktorer. Genom frågorna har respondenterna fått reflektera över hur dessa faktorer förändrats över tid och hur de varit kopplat till pensionssparandet. SLUTSATS: Individer tenderar att påverkas av specifika händelser i livet och låter dessa påverka deras pensionssparande. Pensionssparandet är lågt i början av det vuxna livet, när individen studerar och bildar familj, för att sedan öka och nå sin högsta nivå då barnen flyttar hemifrån. Dock finns det en personlighetstyp som har en hög grad av självkontroll genom hela livet och upprättar därmed ett pensionssparande vid ung ålder. / BACKGROUND: As people are getting older, the importance of establishing personal retirement savings increases. Therefore, it is more important to begin retirement savings at a younger age. Because of this it needs studying how cognitive motivational factors changes during the life cycle and how they interact with the ability and willingness to save for retirement. AIM: The aim of this thesis is to let individuals reflect on what has affected their decisions regarding retirement savings, in a retroactive perspective. This with a focus on (a) self-control, (b) mental accounting, and (c) information and decision avoidance. The aim of the thesis is to analyze and evaluate these cognitive motivational factors in a life cycle-context, and how they integrate with the ability and willingness to save for the retirement. COMPLETION: The thesis has been conducted using a qualitative approach, through semi-structured interviews with individuals aging from 40-65. The respondents have responded to questions focusing on the thesis’s three main factors. Through these questions, the respondents have reflected on how these factors have changed over time and how they have been connected to retirement savings. CONCLUSION: Individuals tend to be affected by different events in their life and let them affect their retirement savings. Retirement savings are lower in early adult life, when the individual studies and starts a family, and is at its peak when kids move from home. There is also a personality type that has a high level of self-control throughout life and therefore saves for retirement at an early age.

Bakgrund: 90-talister i Sverige står inför två tuffa val: att arbeta fram till 70–71-års åldereller att offra vissa angelägenheter idag för att kunna spara en relativt stor summa av sinlön till den framtida pensionen. Dagens pensionärer visar ett missnöje för sin ekonomiskasituation och med tanke på de sämre förutsättningarna som föreligger för 90-talister gällerdet att ta tag i pensionsförberedelser i tid för att ha någon chans att uppnå entillfredsställande pensionssituation. Trots det har det visat sig att unga vuxna skjuter framproblemet till framtiden och prioriterar mer kortsiktiga mål, samtidigt som de förväntarsig en tillfredsställande pensionssituation. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att, med utgångspunkt i en analys av de beteendepsykologiskafallgroparna övertro, ostrich effect och influerande av andra, skapa en djupare förståelseför det potentiella gapet mellan 90-talisters pensionsförväntningar och potentiellapensionssituation. Metod: För att uppfylla studiens syfte och få en djupare förståelse för hur debeteendepsykologiska fallgroparna influerar det potentiella gapet valdes en kvalitativmetod med tio semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom intervjuerna kunde författarna få enbättre insikt i respondenternas subjektiva verklighet. Slutsats: Studien visar att det i många fall finns ett gap mellan pensionsförväntningar ochen potentiell pensionssituation och att faktorer inom de utvalda beteendepsykologiskafallgroparna både kan bidra till ett ökat och minskat gap. Gapet är stort hos majoritetenav respondenterna, på grund av de genomgående höga förväntningarna. Trots attförväntningarna ofta är för höga i jämförelse med respondenternas förutsättningar ochpensionsförberedelser, går det att skilja på ett positivt och negativt gap. Det viktigaste äratt börja spara i tid, och faktorer såsom självförtroende på egen förmåga och att ta hjälpav en finansiell rådgivare främjar ett pensionssparande och bidrar på så sätt till ett positivtgap, medan faktorer som att tro sig vara bättre än andra och prokrastinering hämmaragerandet och bidrar till ett negativt gap. / Background: Young adults in Sweden face two tough choices: to work until the age of70-71 or to sacrifice certain wants today in order to save a relatively large amount of theirsalary for future retirement. Today's pensioners show dissatisfaction with their financialsituation and, given the inferior conditions that exist for young adults, it is important tostart with retirement preparations in time to have any chance of achieving a satisfactorypension situation. Nevertheless, it has been shown that young adults postpone the problemuntil the future and prioritize more short-term goals, while expecting a satisfactoryretirement situation. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to, based on an analysis of the behavioralpsychological bias of overconfidence, ostrich effect and influence of others, create adeeper understanding of the potential gap between young adults’ retirement expectationsand potential retirement situation. Methodology: To fulfill the purpose of the study and gain a deeper understanding of howthe behavioral psychological biases influence the potential gap, a qualitative method withten semi-structured interviews was chosen. Through the interviews, the authors were ableto gain a better insight into the subjective reality of the respondents. Conclusion: The study shows that, in many cases, there is a gap between retirementexpectations and a potential retirement situation and that factors within the selectedbehavioral psychological biases can contribute to both an increased and a decreased gap.The majority of the respondents have a large gap, due to the consistently highexpectations. Despite the fact that the expectations are often too high in comparison withthe respondents’ conditions and retirement preparations, it is possible to distinguishbetween a positive and a negative gap. The most important thing is to start retirementsavings on time, and factors such as self confidence and taking the help of a financialadviser promote retirement saving and thus contribute to a positive gap, while factorssuch as believing oneself to be better than others and procrastination inhibits action andcontributes to a negative gap.